President Iohannis attending European summit in Brussels

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis is attending, March 9-10, a summit of the European Council in Brussels.

He told journalists on Thursday at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace that the main items on the summit's agenda are employment, economic growth and competitiveness, migration, institutional aspects and EU's foreign affairs.

"Emphasis at today's meeting will be placed on finding solutions that will generate sustainable economic growth at the EU level, that will lead to improved living standards for all European citizens. Trade policy, external security, defence, migration, EU's foreign affairs, with emphasis on the latest developments in the Western Balkans, are other items on the agenda of the European summit," said Iohannis.

He added that he will give a press conference at the end of the meeting.

The Presidential Administration says in a press statement that in Brussels, Iohannis will underscore that Romania is supporting the preservation and further development of a strong European industrial sector as well as securing an environment of fair competition and adequate protection for European producers.

As far as the trade policy goes, Iohannis will hail at the Brussels summit the European Parliament having recently approved the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

"The importance of this agreement to Romania is very high because it is directly linked to the visa requirement being lifted for all Romanian nationals travelling to Canada, as pledged by Canada," the statement says.

Iohannis will also advocate advanced cooperation in the areas of external security and defence, given that there is an important potential for the consolidation of European defence and that can be thoroughly done by securing complementarity with NATO actions.

In relation to migration, Iohannis will voice support for the measures agreed upon at the Malta European summit, while reiterating the need for a balanced approach as well as the idea the European Union should continue its actions designed to find sustainable solutions to the root causes of migration.

Iohannis will also reassert Romania's support for the EU's enlargement policy, arguing that the process will have a positive effect politically, socially and institutionally speaking.